HELP! What food do you think is Irish?
 

My department is hosting a drink for our organisation this week. The plan is that there are drinks - champagne/wine/beer and small things to eat - the idea is the people from my department make/bring some food typical of where they come from.

This food should be canape like - so the tradtional Orish fare of bacon and cabbage or stew won't really work.

So I was wondering, what non- irish people would class as Irish food - factoring the canape dilemma - so I can come up with some ideas of how to feed my colleagues. ....in default any interesting suggestions for canapes/appetizers would be welcome.

PS I've thought of the smoked salmon and brown bread - so I'm going to do that - but I need a few other things in addition.

Go raibh maith agat!

ttt

and

PPS - The canapes should be cold if possible - for convenience

ttt

sorry

Help please!

lawchick, I am of Irish heritage and have been to Ireland twice. I cannot think of a single irish canape...maybe our people just didn't do that.

That's my problem, there is no such thing as an Irish canape - but I'm trying to ascertain what people would think would pass for Irish. There will be no other Irish at this gig - just about 35 other nationalities - so I can lie a bit....but obviously it shouldn't be Italian/F rench/Spanish etc.

Some Irish cheeses might be nice.

I hardly know anything about Irish food, and the very little that I hear doesn't sound too enticing. However, two years ago I had to take Irish foods to a party and was very pleased to find that Ireland produces some high quality delicious cheeses. They'd be fine as appetizers.

Though I have my doubts regarding the authenticity of it, when I was growing up we had something reputed to be Irish called (sp?) pogash that was mashed potatoes spread over a pizza like crust, drizzled with melted butter and thin rings of onion, sometimes with a bit of cheese. It was baked and served either warm or at room temperature. Otherwise, can't think of a thing other than the salmon and brown bred or Irish cheeses.

Lately I Googled "Irish recipes" and found a wealth of them, because I need one for a brunch this week. I remember seeing some type of an appetizer that was sausage wrapped in pastry (i.e. pigs-in-a-blanket). Or, like already mentioned, there are nice Irish cheeses. I've even seen some at Costco, even. (You could always just dye the food green and call it Irish!) Good luck.

Just for the heck of it, I checked out the menu at an Irish pub I've visited from time to time.
Their appetizers featured Buffalo wings and fried calamari.
Offer your friends a "drop of the crayture" and they won't notice the absence of food.

Why not make Irish Bread, it's wonderful and would certainly work with wine or champagne...

Also, I would think that you could make corned beef and make a canape with it and bread, mustard and maybe saurkrout instead of regualar cooked cabbage.

My husband is Irish and these are staples at his family parties.

I make a mixture of smoked salmon, green onions, cream cheese, dried chopped figs and walnuts and spread on brown bread or endive lettuce leaves...it is a non nationality food.

Hope one of these works for you.

My mother is Irish and often serves smoked salmon on soda bread as a canape. Making your own soda bread is extremely easy as it doesn't include yeast and would make your contribution more unusual.

Hope this helps!

Like the last two - soda bread. Using different flours and some with fruit.

Irish <u>gig</u>? I thought it was <u>jig</u>!

Anyway - supplement the smoked salmon with brisket and corned beef <i>hors d'oeuvres</i> and be done with it.

Thanks for the help.

I'm thinking I'll throw a few pigs trotters at them.

You could alter a traditional seafood pie recipe and serve it as a hot dip with bread -- a take on the well-known crab and artichoke dip.

Cockles and mussels, doused in lots of malt vinegar (or lemon juice for the prissily inauthentic).

You might serve them in cupcake cups, and try to find those wooden mini-sporks they have on London seafood stalls. CAUTION: these work only with stout. They're vile mixed with champagne.

If you have access to a way of reheating, whole-roast new potatoes, stuffed with little dobs of a mix like banon and cabbage. Or some creative twist on potato cakes. But many people without the requisite Irish genes pretend to find these unappetising when they're cold.

Of course, cockles and mussels apart, there's simply no history of cold food to go with drink in Ireland. The authentic accompaniment to a pint of stout is another pint.

I've always thought of &quot;angels on horseback&quot; as being Irish--here's one recipe:

http://thefoody.com/fish/angelsonhorseback.html

Instead of bacon-wrapped oysters, I've also heard of bacon-wrapped chicken livers on toast points referred to by the same name.

lawchick

The smoked salmon on brown bread will work as will the cheese.
Try and source a variety of irish cheeses. Serve on cocktail sticks,cut into cubes.

Dubliner dip: Mix 1 1/2 cups grated irish cheese, 1 cup plain yoghurt, 4 tablespoons mayonaise, 2 teaspoons horseradish cream or sauce (optional) season with black pepper. Chill &amp; serve with usual veg sticks.

Smoked salmon pinwheels:

1 sml brown sandwich loaf
8 oz cream cheese
6-8 oz smoked salmon, thinly sliced

Remove crusts. spread each slice with cream cheese, lay smoked salmon on top, sprinkle a little lemon juice &amp; black pepper. roll like a swiss roll.

If you wrap them in cling film at this stage they will be easy to store &amp; transport. When ready to serve, slice thinly into pinwheels.

You can make your contribution look very irish by decorating with cress, parsley etc. Also if you can get some green napkins for your serving plates or cut a few shamrocks out of green card.

Let us know how it goes. Slainte